THUNDER BAY - Several familiar faces will be returning to the Thunder Bay city council table in at-large seats, with the exception of one political rookie who finished the race with more than 20,000 votes.
Peng You earned 20,346 votes, 5,600 more than the second place finisher. All other candidates who finished in the top four spots were either incumbents or have previously served on city council.
“It is overwhelming,” Peng You said after the results started coming in Monday night. “But I’m excited too. I’m humbled. It’s so many supporters and help. I’m a rookie. I’m new to the politic game. I am a doer. I am determined. I follow my direction. I will do my best.”
While You is a new face on Thunder Bay city council, the four other at-large seats are being filled with past city councilors.
Finishing second with 14,745 votes was incumbent Aldo Ruberto, followed by Trevor Giertuga, former McIntyre ward councilor, who earned 11,718 votes, five-term city councilor, Rebecca Johnson, who earned 11,692 votes, and Mark Bentz, who once represented the Northwood ward before losing to Shelby Ch’ng in 2014 and earned a spot back at council with 11,074 votes.
Missing the final at-large spot was incumbent Larry Hebert, who finished behind Bentz with 8,807 votes.
“I think I probably could have campaigned harder,” Hebert said. “I thought I had a good social media program. I was not sure how social media and the internet would play into it.”
But Hebert added that the addition of online voting was obviously welcomed during this year’s election.
“I think we have to give those people opportunities to vote and they obviously took advantage of that and that is great,” he said.
With 26 candidates running for five at-large seats, this was one of the most crowded races in recent memory.
You, a Tai Chi master and instructor, believes it was his position in the community as a teacher and his ability to listen to the issues that mattered most to the people of Thunder Bay that earned him so much support over other candidates.
“I know I got a lot of support from young people,” he said. “I have a connection with them, I listen to them, and I have a lot of support from elders because I teach Tai Chi classes and they love me. But this is overwhelming. It’s a lot of votes.”
Following a learning curve that will come with being on council, You said he hopes to focus on social issues, such as crime in the city, as well as one of his campaign platforms.
“My mandate was also focusing on economic development,” he said. “Without this, Thunder Bay will go nowhere.”
This will involve trying to get people to stay in Thunder Bay in order to prevent the tax base from shrinking.
“We have to have real business,” he said. “If we don’t find a new way to attract new business, then Thunder Bay is in trouble. I will do my best. I like Thunder Bay. We don’t want to leave anybody behind. We have to take care of everybody.”
The addition of a new faces is welcomed by incumbent Rebecca Johnson, who is returning to the council table for her fifth term. She said having that kind of support from the community is very significant for her.
“Not only to me, but to what I do in the community and I see the community recognizes that and that is important,” she said.
With new councilors being elected in the Neebing, Westfort, McIntyre, and McKellar wards, Johnson said it is good for the council to have balance of old and new ideas.
“The community wanted changed in this election,” she said. “One of the things I was very cognizant of saying is we want change, but we don’t want a complete change. You need a balance, you need diversity around the table.”
“We will have some new ideas around the table and I think the people being reelected also have new ideas, so we will put these together and it will be a chance to say to the community that this is a new direction we are going to take.”
